Marigold Lands is pleased to announce that our development proposal will be going to Public Hearing January 10th, 2017 at 6:30pm.

The proposed Marigold Lands development represents a vision for a walkable, sustainable, and affordable community with a high quality of design in the heart of the Peninsula:

A compact mix of uses located adjacent to local and regional transit services and the Lochside Bike Trail will support transit use, walking and cycling; A network of attractive and well landscaped open spaces centered on a “Village Green” and neighbourhood commercial use will make this a highly desirable place to live; A mix of apartment units, townhouses and duplexes designed around a central “Village Green” and network of attractive and well landscaped green spaces will create a highly walkable amenity rich and socially vibrant neighbourhood environment attracting a diversity of family types and supporting aging in place; A mix of housing types and tenures, including purpose built rental and below market units will support housing choice and affordability and a range of income levels, lifestyles and age groups and will meet the housing needs of 83% of the Saanich Peninsula based on the 2016 Saanich Peninsula Affordable Housing Needs Assessment Report; An innovative layout and sensitive transition in building scale will ensure a good fit with the existing neighbourhood; The vision for Marigold was developed by an integrated team of leading design professionals through a collaborative planning process involving public and stakeholder engagement at key stages. This included two community planning workshops with a combined attendance of around 200 people; online input and feedback; and engagement with key stakeholders, neighbouring residents, members of the Tsawout First Nation, affordable housing providers, representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, and others.

This further included working closely with District Staff to ensure we not only met but exceeded the District’s Official Community Plan policies, specifically with regards to housing choice and affordability, sustainability, and neighbourhood design.

In this way, the proposed Marigold Lands development is premised on meeting and exceeding local and regional sustainability and housing goals, growing the community sustainably while preventing sprawl, and meaningfully incorporating community, stakeholder and adjacent neighbourhood resident concerns and aspirations while ensuring a viable project that we are confident will be of substantial benefit to the neighbourhood, community and region.

On June 1st, 2016, The proposed Marigold Lands development was presented to and received unanimous endorsement from the District Advisory Planning Commission. Subsequently, Council directed Staff to prepare supporting by-laws which were given first and second reading and referred to a Public Hearing with a recommendation for approval from the District Director of Planning, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer.

We envision the Marigold Lands as being home to young couples, families with children, empty nesters, seniors, and members of the peninsula workforce who otherwise would not be able to call the peninsula home.

With an emphasis on efficient design and beautiful architecture, our proposed development will fit into the existing neighbourhood fabric while serving as a source of pride for all residents.

Our proposal for community building on the Marigold lands emphasizes a compact and diverse mix of housing adjacent to existing transit services and within convenient distance to local jobs in Central Saanich.

Our aim is to create a beautiful, accessible and diverse community which will offer homes, green space, a playground, a small neighbourhood serving commercial component while minimizing impacts on traffic.

We worked hard to accommodate and address community and municipal concerns while remaining committed to a vision with specific elements and amenities to enable the project to be a net benefit to the community and a source of pride.

The Marigold Lands Development will be built out over three phases.

The townhouses, duplexes and commercial building fronting onto Lochside, together with an apartment building and the new park, will be built as part of Phase 1. Phase 1 will also include streetscape improvements on Lochside along with the provision of the majority of other amenities. Phase 2 will include the purpose built rental housing and below market units. A mix of town houses and apartments will be provided in each phase.

As part of ensuring our development meaningfully contributes to a better neighbourhood and community, we have committed to building the following amenities:

A new 14,000 sq. ft. public park with children’s play area Upgrades to Lochside drive from the North end of our property, south to the 4 way stop at Mt. Newton including constructing new street parking, a dedicated bike lane and sidewalk with boulevard. A purpose built public washroom for the benefit of Lochside trail users as well as residents in the area A bike repair station, park benches and bike racks to be located in the vicinity of the commercial building. A public water fountain for users of the Lochside trail. A level two electric car charging station Approximately 50 new Public on street parking spaces.

We have also committed to the following contributions: a cash contribution of $50,000 towards a new bus stop to be constructed near the intersection of Mt. Newton and Highway 17a / cash contribution of $40,000 to upgrading the signal lights at Mt. Newton and the Highway.

In summary, as people who live and work in Central Saanich, we are deeply passionate about and are strongly committed to ensuring the Marigold Lands development contributes positively towards the sustainability, livability and affordability of the District and the larger region. If you share this passion, we invite you to attend the January 10th Public Hearing, or write a letter, to voice your support for sustainability, quality and affordability in the heart of the peninsula.

The Town of Sidney is in the process of planning a workshop for the West Side Local Area Plan. Having completed the initial working group meeting and the Ideas Fair, there are many ideas that have been brought forward. This workshop will be led by their consultants, Barefoot Planning, and will start to get into more detail on producing the final vision.